ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — The Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense, which lost most of its players and coaching staff in an airplane crash last week in Colombia, has been awarded the Copa Sudamericana championship by the governing body of South American soccer.

In a statement Monday, the governing body, Conmebol, said it had awarded the title “as a posthumous homage to the victims of the fatal crash that leaves our sport in mourning.”

Nineteen of Chapecoense’s players were killed in the crash just outside Medellín, Colombia, as the team headed to the first of two matches against the Colombian club Atlético Nacional to determine the champion of the Copa Sudamericana, Latin America’s No. 2 club tournament.

As the winner, Chapecoense qualifies automatically for next season’s Copa Libertadores, the continent’s top club championship.